Also known as: self-defense · defense of others · self defence · defence of others
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A privilege or justification permitting a person to use reasonable force against another to protect against imminent unlawful harm to oneself or a third person. The force must be no greater than the actor correctly or reasonably believes necessary for protection and may extend to creating apprehension of contact when that suffices.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Helen lives above her retail store. A city ordinance requires her to sign a covenant banning handguns in the combined space and mandating that rifles remain inoperable except during transit. She refuses to sign and sues. The restriction prevents her from having a functional firearm available for immediate protection against intruders in her residence.
Griffin sees Nina reach into her backpack during a heated argument. Believing she is drawing a gun, he strikes her with a laptop stand and kills her. Although the belief proves mistaken, the honest though unreasonable perception of imminent deadly threat supports mitigation of the murder charge.
Carla stands near a slowly backing forklift on a construction site. A clear gap in the fencing behind her offers an easy step to safety. Instead she rushes forward and shoves the driver off the machine. Even though she could have avoided any contact by retreating, the shove remains privileged.
A client sues her law firm alleging overbilling and inadequate representation. The firm obtains and uses the client's own discovery responses and instructions to defend the malpractice claim. The client's allegations place the representation at issue and thereby permit the firm to rely on otherwise confidential materials.
Matthew restrains an intoxicated resident swinging a cane near children. Once the resident goes limp the threat ends, yet Matthew maintains pressure for another minute causing asphyxia. The continued force exceeds what is reasonably believed necessary and therefore falls outside the privilege.
Peggy faces an aggressive advance across a wet deck. She jabs a boat hook toward the midsection but stops short of contact, intending only to startle the other person into halting. Because the act is meant solely to create apprehension rather than actual contact, the conduct remains privileged even though the startled person falls and is injured.
No. The privilege turns on whether the defender reasonably believes an intentional harmful contact threatening death or serious bodily harm is imminent and can be stopped only by immediate defensive force. An explicit threat combined with a weapon and a confined space with no safe exit supports that belief even without prior physical contact.
Supporting sources
Self-defense permits an actor to use force intended only to create reasonable apprehension of harmful contact even if the force exceeds what would otherwise be allowed. The actor must intend and reasonably believe the act will do no more than produce such apprehension.
…Not being inured to the vicissitudes of journalistic scrutiny such an individual is more easily injured and his means of self-defense are more limited. The public is less likely to view with normal skepticism what is written about him because it is not accustomed to seeing his name in the press and expects only a…
…to determine whether he has a legitimate call upon the court for protection in light of his prior activities and means of self-defense
…subject to political influence and the rough and tumble of the hustings, who have open to them traditional means of self-defense
…§ 2503 (describing offense of voluntary manslaughter as action under heat of passion or premised upon imperfect belief of self-defense
…all of them. The first, and controlling, issue we consider is whether or not the trial court correctly instructed the jury on self-defense
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When the perceived threat arises from negligent conduct and the defender knows or should know that safe retreat is available, the privilege does not apply. The defender must use the retreat option rather than force.
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In some jurisdictions an honest though unreasonable belief that deadly force is necessary in self-defense mitigates what would otherwise be murder to voluntary manslaughter.
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The Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in the home. A total ban on handguns and requirements that firearms be rendered inoperable for immediate use are unconstitutional.
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